Zeus
The following information is taken from In2greece.com. Zeus is the father of all the gods and humans, he is the most senior of the Olympian gods Master of the Heavens and Lord of the Universe. History He was a third generation god. His grandmother was Gaea the first mother and he was the youngest child of the first race of deities, his parents being Cronus and Rhea. He escaped the fate of his brothers and sisters of being swallowed by his father and was brought up in secret by the Nymph, Neda and the wives of the Corybands, Idaeon, Andron, dictaie and Melliai who were assisted by Adrastea and the goat Amalthea. He led the younger generation of gods in the battles against the older race of Titans and afterwards the Giants and finally conquered the mighty serpent Typhon to win his position of King of all the Gods. As king, Zeus created the world from scratch and after Prometheus’ attempt to help mankind, created a new race of humans that did not have the arrogance of the old human race but instead honoured their gods. He did this by sending a tremendous flood to the world with only Deucalion and Pyrrha surviving, then allowing them to create new humans from the rocks that they threw behind them. He was married to Hera although he is known for his erotic philanderings, endless abductions and seductions of other women, appearing as either human or an animal to trick women to lay with him. He fathered many children, some godly but others heroic semi-gods. By fathering a whole generation of gods and semi-divine heroes he usurped the powr of procreation from the Mother Goddess, Gaea. Mighty Abilities As guarantor for the order and harmony of the world he would avenge and exterminate any god that went against him and upset this harmony. He was, however, also a protector and a fair god, who judged the actions of both gods and mortals with compassion He protected the states and defended cities during wars. He granted freedom to those who were under his protection, protected the homes of humans, their peace and safeguarded the institution of marriage and friendship. Besides caring for families he protected the poor, strangers and refugees. He also was responsible for the climate and the changes in weather, sending rain to make the fields fertile. Zeus was the most powerful god. He had overturned his father Cronus and seized power, and everything was ultimately in his hands. Zeus was a weather god, as well as the protector of the law, the state, the society, the city, the family and strangers. According to the myth, Zeus was the son of Cronus and Rea and born in Crete. He was the God of all gods and belonged to the second generation of the gods of Olympus. The story told is that before the birth of Zeus, Cronus was told by an oracle that one of his children would seize his power and so, rather then let this happen, he murdered all his children by eating them. His wife, Rea, determined not to let this happen again on the birth of the baby Zeus, tricked Cronus by presenting him with a rock disguised as a newborn wrapped in swaddling clothes. She then sought refuge in a cave on top of Mt. Dikti in Crete to give birth to her baby. Soon after this, the infant was moved to another lonely cave, Idaion Andro on Mt. Idi where he was raised by Nymphs and was suckled by a goat, Amalthia. In order that Cronus should be kept in ignorance about his secret son, the baby,s cries were drowned out by the giant gods, the kourites who created a cacophony by beating on their drums and singing loudly. When Zeus became an adult, he defeated his father and so became the king of the Gods. Zeus main shrine was in Dodona, where it was believed one could hear the future being told by the wind blowing through the the leafs of the holy oak trees that grew there. In Olympia he was honoured every four years with the Olympic Games and Phidias statue of him there was considered one of the seven wonders of the ancient world. The birds, especially the eagle, were believed to be Zeus messengers and so his priests were careful to try and foretell the future through the birds flight. Mountains were often named after Zeus and still today there are mountains of Zeus all over Greece, for example on Crete and Naxos. On Crete Zeus was especially worshipped since it was believed he grew up there, in hiding from his father who would have eaten him had he known of Zeus existence. On Crete his worshippers believed he was born there, and that he also died there. There was even a tomb there said to be his. The name Zeus is believed to originate in the Sanskrit dyaus which means heaven. The ancient Greeks also called him Dias, and this name has through the Latin Deus become a common word for God in many languages. Apart from being the highest God, Zeus was also a mischievous one. Constantly unfaithful to his jealous wife and sister Hera, Zeus had many children with other women, both mortal and immortal. With Hera he had Ares, Hebe, Hephaestus and Eileithyia. Symbolic Importance His symbols of the eagle and the thunderbolt were linked to his powers with the eagle being the sacred bird which flies higher in the sky than any other bird and faster than everything but lightening. As well as these two symbols the oak tree is sacred to Zeus and in Zeus’ oracle in Dodona, Epirus, an oak tree was in the centre of the temple and the priests would divine the god’s pronouncements by interpreting the rustling of its leaves.The god took the form of a white bull when he seduced the mortal Europa and in his seduction of Io, changed her into a heifer to conceal her from his jealous wife Hera.